Imaging for Life
Radiology Associates, P.A. (RAPA) has been providing diagnostic and therapeutic imaging services for more than 80 years. Our capabilities include a full range of imaging procedures and interventional treatments at more than 20 facilities in Arkansas. In RAPA's outpatient imaging facilities, state of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge technology are put to work to provide the best possible care for Arkansans. Our goal is to give physicians and their patients an accurate diagnosis, while offering access to minimally invasive, comfortable, safe and effective treatment options.
RAPA seeks to improve the health of our community through “Imaging for Life” and through activities supporting physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
RAPA Has a Long History of Introducing New Technologies
As the United States prepared to enter World War I, the School of Medicine in Little Rock acquired its first Roentgen diagnosis equipment. A young medical graduate from Indiana, Dr. Darmon A. Rhinehart, had recently joined the Anatomy Faculty at the Medical School. The novel X-ray gadgets were made his responsibility. In 1919, Dr. Rhinehart opened a private practice of Roentgenology in Little Rock. He joined the staffs of St. Vincent Infirmary and the Missouri Pacific Hospital, later to become Southwest Hospital. In this way, Radiology Associates traces its beginnings to the early years of the 20th century.
Radiology Associates is among the oldest business enterprises in Arkansas and one of the oldest continuously operating medical practices in the United States. We have provided significant national leadership to Radiology and consistently have been at the forefront of technologic innovation.
In the early 1970s, the British EMI Corporation installed the 23rd CT scanner in history in our main office in the Doctors Building. In the early 1980s, we took delivery of the first MRI scanner in Arkansas, among the first 100 clinical MRI installations in the world.
In more recent times, we have grown to serve many hospitals throughout Central Arkansas, as well as more than 10 clinic practices that include four RAPA outpatient imaging facilities. We have attracted Radiologists from the best programs in the country, including the Mallinckrodt Institute of Washington University, Duke University, Southwestern University in Dallas and Massachusetts General Hospital. Among our 40 Radiologists, we have physicians with fellowship training in a variety of sub-specialty areas.
Our physicians have served as Chiefs of the Medical Staff at several hospitals and on governing bodies of a number of facilities. Members of our group performed pioneer work in the creation of the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI), and today most of the radiation oncologists in Little Rock are members of our sister organization, Radiation Oncology Associates, P.A., with whom we share decades of common experience, business and investment programs.
During the past decade we have expanded and enhanced our practice by joining with existing Radiology practices in Benton, Conway, Searcy, and Rogers. We have also partnered with St. Vincent Health System to open the St. Vincent Breast Center. In 2003, our Outpatient Imaging Center in the Doctors Building underwent a major renovation, which included the reconstruction of our offices and the purchase of new, state-of-the-art equipment.